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How much is 40,000 Gold Dragons worth?


Malchyor

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Yeah, which made me think that Littlefinger was actually working for the Iron Bank, in hopes of bankrupting the whole of the realm. But to what ends? That kind of debt would only inspire War, as that would be the last refuge of protection from that debt.

Maybe LF is in secret a descendant of old valyria and wants revenge on those nasty runaway slaves from Bravos. He's just waiting until a king or queen under his control comes to the throne to declare a full war and then burn Bravos to the freaking ashes. The new king could seize all the gold in those iron mines and then LF would be rich enough to buy himself all the redheads and all the brothels in the world for himself.

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Actually, 40,000 gold dragons would be around hundreds of millions of dollars.

But Martin himself said he really screwed things up with the Tourney. Proably, the right prize would be around 500-1000 gold dragons.

Well, each time a knight defeats another knight, he takes their armor and horse. Those are going to be worth between 30-200 gold each, or much more. I think it's safe to assume the actual prize was rather big. these are the biggest cultural events in Westeros, what songs and dreams are made of. Let's say a knight has to win an average of 10 jousts, with an average ransom of 100 gold for each joust won. That's already 1000 gold. My guess is the prize for winning should be around 5-10X what you'd get for a ransom. So 5-10k. So maybe not 40k, but why NOT 40k?

Oh and let's not forget, people are gambling money, serious money, on the results as well. Winning should to a certain extent outweigh side bets and throwing a match.

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Well, each time a knight defeats another knight, he takes their armor and horse. Those are going to be worth between 30-200 gold each, or much more. I think it's safe to assume the actual prize was rather big. these are the biggest cultural events in Westeros, what songs and dreams are made of. Let's say a knight has to win an average of 10 jousts, with an average ransom of 100 gold for each joust won. That's already 1000 gold. My guess is the prize for winning should be around 5-10X what you'd get for a ransom. So 5-10k. So maybe not 40k, but why NOT 40k?

Oh and let's not forget, people are gambling money, serious money, on the results as well. Winning should to a certain extent outweigh side bets and throwing a match.

Thats not on par with what we've seen in the books, Dunks armor for a huge guy cost 800 silver which translated into 3 gold.

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This thread made me realize something, Robert put the realm 6 MILLION in debt. Whoever has the Iron Throne has no hope of repaying the Iron Bank. Robert fucked up bad.

Not exactly. Remember that of that 6 million, 3 was to the Lannisters, which anyone other than the current regime wipes clean when taking the throne. Almost another million was to the faith which has been wiped clean, and we know that the Tyrells and Tyroshi also had leant money as well as the Iron Bank, and even some other lesser but wealthy lords like the Hightowers and Redwyns. What this means is that the vast majority of pre war debts is literally gone, any winner other than a Tyrell or Lannister is looking at less than 2 million in debt, the exact amount being unknown. Also, when the war is over spoils can be taken, for example in the 3rd Dunk and egg we see that house has to give up half its wealth to the crown and they never even actually rebelled, just talked about it. Finally there is the fact that under Aerys, the crowns treasury was "overflowing" so if LF and Robert are removed from their positions of power then the Crown will start to make money again.

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GRRM said he messed it up and that it was more like 8000, and Sandor of course used the money so he had something like 4000 dragons when he was caught.

so GRRM changed the amount, just not in canon? Like he said "oh no it was 8000" or did he say "it SHOULD have been 8000" ?

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Sandor was in no way carrying 40k at the time he was taken at by BWB....you know how much that would WEIGH!?

Way more than what a warhorse could possibly carry. That's several big stonking chests full of gold pieces, and gold is heavy. Stranger is a horse, not an SUV.

And yeah, Martin screwed the prices up. Biggest tournament ever as it may be, Sandor getting 40 000 gold pieces was ridiculous when you know they are worth a lot; as someone said, 3 gold buys you a suit of armor custom made for a really big guy, and armor is expensive. 40 000 is a lordly fortune, Sandor could easily have given the Lannisters the finger and lived very comfortably for the rest of his days.

That much gold amounts to several million dollars at least, and probably more like around a few tens of millions. I'm not sure even guys like Tiger Woods win that amount of money in one event. And our modern society is far, far richer than any medieval kingdom.

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http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/95349-what-did-the-hound-do-with-the-40k-dragons-he-won-at-the-hands-tourney/

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/100689-what-could-you-buy-with-40000-gold-dragons/

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/109122-a-gold-dragon-is-worth-over-17000-usd-that-does-not-seem-right/

The BWB took 30k off of Sandor as he wandered around the RL. So he blew or hid 10k before the BBW. Now ask yourself, how much does 30k gold coins weigh? If you answered over 300 lbs you'd be right. And then ask yourself, how could I transport over 300 lbs in gold coins? And voila! You've discovered a (very) small plot hole...

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Seriously, are people unable to read?



“A dead man’s note, good for nine thousand dragons or nearabouts.” The Hound swung up into the saddle behind Arya, and smiled down unpleasantly. “Ten of it is yours. I’ll be back for the rest one day, so see you don’t go spending it.”


BWB only gave the Hound a note for 9k dragons, thus he was only carrying that much, thus he either spent the other 31k or stored it somewhere.


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Seriously, are people unable to read?

BWB only gave the Hound a note for 9k dragons, thus he was only carrying that much, thus he either spent the other 31k or stored it somewhere.

Oops, I guess I got it backwards. (Thanks for correcting me so politely.)

40k golden dragons would be worth nearly a quarter million piglets...

Tyrion pulled a big fistful of coppers from his purse and tossed them in the air, and the children went running for them, shoving and shouting. The lucky ones might be able to buy a heel of stale bread tonight. He had never seen markets so crowded, and for all the food the Tyrells were bringing in, prices remained shockingly high. Six coppers for a melon, a silver stag for a bushel of corn, a dragon for a side of beef or six skinny piglets.

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The BWB took 30k off of Sandor as he wandered around the RL. So he blew or hid 10k before the BBW. Now ask yourself, how much does 30k gold coins weigh? If you answered over 300 lbs you'd be right. And then ask yourself, how could I transport over 300 lbs in gold coins? And voila! You've discovered a (very) small plot hole...

Just for laughs: I assume the dragon to have the same weight as the solidus, used during the late roman period and most of the Middle Ages. With the current gold price, the Hound would have won 5,697,191.50 €.

That would be 182 kg by the way.

...for 40,000. So, 136,5 kg for 30,000 dragons.

Now, if the dragon is closer to the aureus, it would be about 270 kg...

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